Chapter 300: Not a Leader (Patreon)

In the western suburbs of the Imperial capital, beneath several swaths of greenery, stood a building that resembled an air-raid shelter. This was one of the hidden offices of the Empire's Magic Special Forces.

After boarding the carriage, Lügner and Solitär had been rushed all the way from Langwish's territory to this place at a gallop.

Throughout the trip, Fräse and her two team members said nothing. Lügner kept his eyes closed, and Solitär simply stared out the window at the scenery blurring past. A deathly calm filled the carriage, broken only by the rattle of the bouncing wheels.

When they arrived, the male team member who had been huddled in the corner kicked the door open and leapt out.

He had barely found his footing before he doubled over.

"Blleeeeaaaargh!"

A rainbow-colored stream of vomit spewed from his mouth.

"How embarrassing."

The other team member, a woman, sighed. He was an elite among the Empire's Mages, and he still threw up from carriage sickness.

"The carriage… it was… it was just too fast! Blleeeeaaaargh!"

"Rest right there," Fräse said, patting the man's shoulder. Then she turned to the two demons. "Come with me."

Lügner nodded, and the four of them went to the bunker's entrance.

Solitär was a seasoned Greater Demon, and the moment she saw the vault-like door, she sensed an extremely powerful barrier magic laid over it.

Fräse placed her palm lightly against the door, and Mana began to flow within the seal of the barrier.

Meanwhile, the female team member watched the two seemingly docile demons with bristling wariness.

In barely half a minute, there was a click, and the door swung open.

"After you, both of you." Fräse then turned to the other woman. "You wait outside."

Solitär and Lügner exchanged a glance and followed her in.

At first, there was only pitch darkness, so black they couldn't see their own hands. Then came the snap of Fräse's fingers.

With a rumbling roar, flames ignited and ringed the space, and points of light spread outward from above until the whole chamber was lit.

The bunker's interior was spacious and furnished like an ordinary assembly hall. At the head stood a long rectangular table with a single chair, and below it, rows of wooden chairs were laid out in a square formation.

"May I begin giving my testimony?"

Lügner took a seat in the very front row. Solitär, seeing this, sat a row behind him.

"This is only a simple interrogation. It will take time to conclude the detailed investigation, and until then, you'll stay here with me."

Fräse sat down at the square table facing the two demons.

"Human, you look very confident. It's only a slightly fancier barrier. Do you truly think it can hold me?" Solitär taunted, utterly unconcerned.

"The case you're investigating has nothing to do with me or with Gaderia. In the several decades since Gaderia became independent, we have never encroached on a single inch of Empire land. We hold to the principle of living in harmony with humans. As for a carriage of somewhat rare jewels, honestly, we couldn't care less."

Lügner's words carried a tinge of sarcasm and provocation as well.

"We look only at the facts. The Empire's Magic Special Forces is a special unit founded to preserve the Empire's peace. Anything that endangers the Empire, whether Demon Race or human, we will eliminate."

Fräse sat upright in her chair, her expression unmoved. She did not fear the formidable Mana radiating from Solitär, nor did the provocations shake her.

She had her own sense of justice and her own judgment.

"The Northern Plateau is still a battlefield between humans and the Demon Race. Even though the Demon King has been defeated by the Hero, your kind continues to invade our lands. Humans and demons haven't reached the point of peace. Gaderia is merely an exception, like the fortress city of Weise. The Empire is vast, and we can't fully govern every place."

"Just as you say, even your Empire can't govern every human. The independent-minded territories, the nations of the central region, the kingdoms of the south, aren't they all exceptions? We of the Demon Race aren't all on one front, either."

Lügner cleverly turned Fräse's own words against her.

"This group of demons holds no ill will toward humans. As long as the Empire doesn't interfere with us, we won't do anything to harm the Empire. We're innocent."

Tap, tap, tap.

Fräse's fingers drummed lightly on the tabletop as she chewed over Lügner's speech. Then, with a note of admiration, she said, "You have a talent for politics. But most of the politicians I've met were hypocrites. How can you guarantee that everything you're doing now isn't meant to win human trust, so that we'll lower our guard?"

Hearing this, Lügner spread his hands. "We each have our own reasons."

"Lügner, if talking won't get us anywhere, let's just fight our way out."

Solitär was losing patience. That human woman wasn't her type. Her dull principles gave Solitär the feeling that they were destined to clash at the first disagreement, and she wasn't even worth chatting with.

"Solitär, to show our sincerity, I think we should stay here for a while."

Lügner remained perfectly calm. He was innocent, and that was a fact.

"You're Gaderia's lord now, aren't you, Lügner?"

Fräse tried saying the demon's name.

"That's right."

"Has your Gaderia planted pieces among the Empire's upper ranks, too?" Then she added, "You needn't answer. As long as he doesn't slip up, we won't go after him. After all, quite a few in the Empire's upper ranks are rotten, and in the future they may all become our accomplishments."

For the first time, Fräse's words left Lügner stunned.

He had long suspected as much. For Gaderia to have become independent so smoothly and grown into what it was under pressure from nobles on every side, perhaps Lady Nanoda had foreseen it and made some preparations inside the Empire.

Fräse's question only strengthened his conviction.

"I don't know. At least as lord, I've never had contact with anyone like that."

Lügner was telling the truth. Most of the nobles he dealt with had been introduced by Glück long ago.

Someone like Langwish, who had almost no connection to Gaderia, and who extended an invitation unprompted without any known background, was a first.

"I could let the demon beside you leave. A Gaderia that has lost its leader would be no good for anyone."

Fräse was unexpectedly fair-minded. She had considered that a territory without its lord might rise up against the Empire. According to her intelligence, Gaderia was very united, and once the demons there heard the news, they would very likely organize a force to take back their lord.

"That's not necessary. I'm not the leader of Gaderia."

A rare smile appeared on Lügner's face.